Wednesday, January 2, 2013

After waxing lyrical on the relatively unspoilt attributes of remote Glenorchy "up the lake" from Qtown, David Farrar on Kiwiblog then goes on about the difficulty of getting out of Dodge in the form of the second ranked population center of the southern lakes district, Wanaka.

His options were apparently the gouging cost of $400 to fly, 9 hours in a coach, a rather inappropriate image of dressing to gain a hitch, getting to the "capital" of The Lakes district, Qtown for a hire car or cadging a lift from someone via his blog.

Welcome to one of the hazards of 'Provincial NZ' David.

Accessing places such as Timaru, Oamaru, Nelson, Blenheim, Gisborne and even the twin cities of Hastings/ Napier are extraordinarily expensive and difficult to schedule due to low volumes and fluctuating demands.
It is so easy for travel on the mainline CHC, WGN, AKL. at prices as low as $50 return and add in Dunedin, Palmy and Hamilton on that line and an ignorance that exists as to the difficulties of flying from say Oamaru to Gisborne comes into clear focus

So David, just get on the bus and spend time safely and comfortably taking in the relative serenity of some of the wealth creating rustic New Zealand, that a few of us understand as very 'normal and tend to take for granted.

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I rode my (fast) motorcycle homeward to Picton from Queenstown on Dec 31st. If the bus I followed briefly was an indication of usual bus speeds your 9 hours is overstated. Lots of people doing more than 104kph but the standard was pretty good with no silly stuff seen at all. No cops about either.

Farrar is a socialist - wants everything for stuff all and just when he wants it. That part of the world is so beautuful I'm going to fly back to Chch, rent a decent car and take my wife for a drive down there. Farrar makes more than me I suspect so that makes him a cheap whining schmuck.

You made some good points, and well done - then you ended with a cheap shot in the last sentence. Sort of deflates your whole purpose and credibility. Shame really.

I have on occasion last year used the Intercity bus service a bit (mainly in the North Is.) and found it to be reasonably priced, convenient, slightly lacking in professionalism (staff in depots and booking offices), and with careful drivers. Their website for info and booking is an example to other travel companies on how to do it.I like being a passenger sometimes - it's amazing what you see when you are not behind the wheel. And there is a lot to see between Wanaka and Christchurch.